FLOCERT auditors are highly qualified, usually based in the countries and regions where they work, and familiar with local cultures, languages, and legal systems. All auditors are examined on their skills and receive annual training.

Consumers can be confident that the international FAIRTRADE Marks are only used on products that meet the international Fairtrade Standards, and benefit Fairtrade certified farmers and workers.

Producer Audits

All producer organizations – whether small producer group, plantation or contract production setup – must go through an initial on-site audit before they can sell Fairtrade certified products.

The size of Fairtrade producer organizations varies greatly from small cooperatives with a few farmer members to large plantations with hundreds of workers, on up to large second-grade cooperatives with thousands of farmer members. As a result of this, FLOCERT randomly selects a pre-defined minimum number of farms to be physically visited and workers to be interviewed. The annual cost of certification depends on the total number of farmers or workers.

A full Fairtrade producer audit will last several days. The time the auditor spends in the field depends on the size of the producer organization (number of farmer members or workers), its complexity, and the number of certified products it wants to sell as Fairtrade.

Following the physical audit, an audit report is sent to FLOCERT for evaluation and approval or to follow-up on any non-conformities identified during the audit. The decision to certify is taken by FLOCERT, and only after all non-conformities have been corrected.

After receiving the initial Fairtrade certification, producer organizations are physically audited at least twice in a three-year certification cycle. In addition to the regular audits, FLOCERT conducts regular unannounced audits.

Trader Audits

FLOCERT also audits traders and companies* against the Fairtrade Trade Standard. Traders and companies wishing to sell Fairtrade products first receive a temporary ‘permission to trade’ prior to their first audit to ensure that they can comply with the Trade Standard. This enables traders to build up a history in the Fairtrade system that can be audited and enables producers to benefit from new buyers coming on board.

A complete audit is then conducted within six months after receiving the permission to trade. At the audit itself the auditor checks on-site if all Fairtrade transactions were conducted in line with the corresponding Fairtrade Standards. Traders involved in Fairtrade Premium and Minimum Price payments are audited at least twice in a three-year certification cycle and FLOCERT also conducts unannounced audits.